Curiouser and Curiouser by Melanie Karsak

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages:230
Series: Steampunk Fairy Tales
Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings, Steampunk
Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis:

To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him.

Alice thought she’d turned over a new leaf. No more working for Jabberwocky. No more making deals with the ruthless Queen of Hears. No more hanging around the Mushroom with the tinkers, tarts, scoundrels, and thieves in London’s criminal underbelly. But she’d been bonkers to dream.

Hatter’s reckless behavior leads Alice back to the one person she never wanted to see again, Caterpillar. Pulled into Caterpillar’s mad schemes, Alice must steal a very big diamond from a very royal lady. The heist is no problem for this Badnersnatch. But protection her heart from the man she once loved? Impossible.

Sometimes love is mad.

Review:

I never read anything that has to do with Steampunk. I know what steampunk is but I’ve never fully looked into the subject matter. I saw this and since I haven’t read many Alice in Wonderland retellings

Down the rabbit hole I go!

 

 

 

This was an different approach to the fairy tale. It’s not your typical Disney movie.

Alice aka Bandersnatch use to work for the Jabberwokey after he got her and her sister out of a London factory. As soon as she could she got her and her sister out of that life and hasn’t looked back since.

That is till the Rabbit steals a pocket watch from her employer. Alice chases the Rabbit all the way to the Mushroom where Caterpillar waits with a proposition.

Unlike the fairy tale and most retellings we don’t go through to Wonderland. We are in Steampunk London. I like how the author did that. Very different. Very original.

While I liked the story I wasn’t fully in love with it. I didn’t connect with the characters. Alice at times was a little rash. I did love Bess and Henry aka the hatter.

Now since this book I have looked up many steampunk objects on Pinterest just so I knew what they looked like. I will read the other fairytales but right now I have a few arcs and a few library books that need to be read.

Grace Street by Ella Dominguez

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 327
Series: Chapter 8 #1
Genre: Dark, Romance,
Rating: 4 stars
BR with Felicia and Alaina on Goodreads

Synopsis:

Obsession, possession, resilience, insanity…

Seeking solitude and reprieve from her past failed relationships, Elsa begins her life anew in Richmond, hoping to find the change that she so desperately needs. Things are looking up for her- a new job, new friends, a fresh start.

But Victor has different plans for her. From the moment he heard Elsa’s voice, she became next on his to-do list- his Chapter 8. A well-known and respected criminal profiler, his mind is as dark as the criminals he hunts down. It takes one to know one, after all. Under the guise of making his subjects stronger, he intends to break Elsa down using everything in his arsenal- including pleasure, pain, humiliation, and things unspeakable.

Lonely, still on the mend from a bad break-up and longing for attention- Elsa consents to an odd proposition. Initially unaware of Victor’s plans, she quickly realizes that the causal encounter she agreed to is, in fact, a cruel psychological game with no ending in sight. She may be one in a long line of test subjects for Victor; however, she can’t be broken so easily. What he puts her through only fuels the fire burning within her-a flame that begins to blaze out of control as she becomes obsessed with everything about Victor and peeling back his cruel layers in search of the real man hiding beneath his heartless facade.

In Victor’s world, there is no such thing as happily ever after, and Chapter 8 proves to be an infuriating challenger when she flips the tables on his selfish and twisted game, a game they both may end up losing their hearts and minds over.

Warning: This is neither a conventional romance nor a traditional love story. There are no hearts and flowers on the pages of this book. The heroine doesn’t always make wise choices and though I’ve tried to make her strong, she’s often times weak in the face of the fierce hero. The hero is not a knight in shining armor. He’s broken and frequently cruel, and what every woman in the real world should avoid. What’s contained within this book is fiction- dark, depraved and decadent make-believe. Contains erotic elements, uncomfortable situations, and descriptions that may trigger past memories of abuse. Intended for readers 18+.

Review:

I can not totally comprehend what I had just read. Never have I ever had a time where I didn’t know what to rate a book. Throughout the story Victor/Mr Black has mind screwed me along with his chapters. I will not lie when I say that he is the sole reason on me continuing reading this book and picking up the second. Had the whole story been in Elsa POV I would have DNFed. Not because she had weak moments, no. Because she was boring.

I haven’t been like this since I read Absolution by LP Lovell and Stevie Cole. But even then that book did not mess with my mind. This though… this thoroughly messed with my mind. I couldn’t have cared less about Elsa. I wanted to know everything that there is about Victor. I, like Elsa, was obsessed with figuring out what was going on with Victor. What kind of person he is?

The darkness about Victor drew me in and I didn’t want to stop till I found out why he was the way he was and what happened with Chapter 1 that made him like this.

Yes, I’m a sick depraved fuck, but those are traits that I’ve learned to embrace.

Victor never sugar coated what he was. He knew it and he accepted it.

I’m very back and forth with him. Do I like it or do I start to question my own sanity for which I have been to afraid to really look into and accept?

Damn you Mr. Black for making me torment myself over your actions! Damn you Victor for being so damn confusing with your feelings. You both have given me an anxiety that I have never gotten from a book before.

To be continued…

 

You by Caroline Kepnes

My edition: Library book
Pages:424
Series: You #1
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 5 gazillion stars

Synopsis:

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight- the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way-even if it means murder.

Review:

Not going to lie I did think that Joe was going to do worse than what actually happened. Granted this isn’t for everyone. There are dark moments in the book, but I feel as if it wasn’t as dark as I saw several people make it out to be.

Or maybe I’m just heartless. More than likely it is me being heartless. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve read gorier stories of obsession.

Now Joe is the perfect stalker. I simply adored him while at the same time not wanting this to happen to me. The book is told through Joe’s P.O.V. and if you are anything like me you will also think that Beck isn’t good enough for our dear hero, well antihero. I’m not putting Joe on my boyfriend list, but I can see why so many people fell in love with him. Even when he is doing bad.

To be truthfully honest I rooted for some of the bad stuff to happen. *Cough, Cough* Peach *Cough,Cough*

The author told a wonderful story. She truly creates some of the most horrendous characters that I have read about but I didn’t want to put the book down. Why? Because of Joe. I needed to see how he played out. His character was just so amazingly written.

It was like watching a friend who is in a toxic relationship loose all the life they once had before this person walked into their life. You want to help but you can’t because they don’t want help.

Let’s get this cleared up first, though Joe is a stalker and Beck is his object of obsession, I don’t see Beck as a victim. I couldn’t help but think after I seen it in another review but she reminds me much of Daisy at times from The Great Gatsby. Not all the time though. Daisy had a little, okay a lot more class than Beck.

The author spins such a tale with Joe and Beck that you feel more sympathy for Joe than for Beck. You wish that he could do better such as Karen Minty but instead he let’s his desire for Beck rule him.

This wasn’t the normal dark stalker I have grown to know. This was different from the men who fall in love with a woman or even a woman falling in love with a man and go full psycho. Fatal Attraction anyone? Joe doesn’t beat around the bush with Beck. He knows she has flaws such as tweeting to much than actually writing stories. He catches her in multiple lies but still forgives her. There are no rainbow unicorn googles with Joe. He sees Beck for who she is and still is completely obsessed with her.

Don’t get me wrong Joe has many flaws. I mean hello he is stalking a woman who happened to just walk into his bookstore. But I can’t help but feel sorry for Joe because Beck is such a horrible person. But both of them are terrible material when it comes to relationship quality.

I can’t wait to get Hidden Bodies next. Hope my library gets it in soon.

 

 

Midnight Hunter by Brianna Hale

My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Stand alone
Genre: Dark Romance, Historic Fiction
Rating: 4.5 star rating
BR with Felicia on Goodreads

Synopsis:

He’s hunting me, and there’s nowhere to run.

East Berlin, 1963. I thought I understood the consequences of trying to flee to the West. Death. Imprisonment without trial. Instead I’m being hunted by the most dangerous man in the city, secret police officer Reinhardt Volker.

Now I’m his prize, no longer a traitorous factory girl but his elegant and pampered secretary. He wants to possess me, body, soul- and heart. I’ll do anything to get away from him, but first that means getting closer.

I want to feel only hatred for my captor but beneath his uniform I discover a man with a past as scarred as Berlin’s. 

And if I don’t escape him soon it will be too late.

Review:

Evony is an East German. She wants to escape from her life on the eastern side of the wall. But she has one problem. She has caught the eye of der Mittenachtsjager (midnight hunter).

Volker ran after her as she tried to escape. But he caught her and he’s never going to let go.

This story is a new favorite of mine. We are taken back to East Germany under the rule of the USSR. The infamous Berlin Wall has been erected. I love stories such as this. In Germany and around or after WWII. This has taken place twenty years after but still piques my interest.

I came across this when a friend was reading it. I added it to my kindle. After seeing her review and her liking it I knew I needed to give it a good old college try. Boy was I not disappointed.

I know few German words so for the author to throw those in and use the German language every now and then made this little language nut jump for joy. German is one of the languages I am slowly learning right now and this book added in new words for me. YAY!

Anywho back to the story, I loved the hero and heroine together. She didn’t submit right away like some books have women do. Volker is 6’5″ of perfect alpha male. He is add to my list. The chemistry between these two is amazing. And that ending was wrapped up really nice. I didn’t want this to end but at the same time I was wanting to see what the end was going to be like. But one thing I would liked was the love connection developed a little better. It at many times felt a bit insta.

I am going to give Hale’s other books a try. I noticed they are the DDlg type. I’m very skeptical. The only time I tried that did not end well and I DNF the book. Let’s hope Hale has a better way of writing the story.

 

Perfect Nightmare by John Saul

My edition: Library book
Pages:384
Stand alone
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

If you open your house to strangers, who knows, who might come in. And what they might be after. Or whom. Now, ponder the unthinkable and surrender to your darkest dread, as sinister storyteller extraordinaire John Saul weaves a heart-stopping tale of lurking terror and twisted intent.

Every parent’s nightmare becomes reality for Kara Marshall when her daughter, Lindsay, vanishes from her bedroom during the night. The police suspect that the girl is just another moody teenage runaway, angry over leaving behind her school and friends because her family is moving. But Lindsay’s recent eerie claim-that someone invaded her room when the house was opened to prospective buyers- drives Kara to fear the worst: a nameless faceless stalker has walked the halls of her home in search of more than a place to live.

Patrick Shields recognizes Kara’s pain- and carries plenty of his own since he lost his wife and two children in a devastating house fire. But more than grief draws Patrick and Kara together. He, too, senses the hand of a malevolent stranger in this tragedy. And as more people go missing from houses up for sale, Patrick’s suspicion, like Kara’s, blooms into horrified certainty.

Review:

The first time I read this I was about sixteen. I had lived a somewhat sheltered life when it came to books. My mother was strict and I couldn’t read books like this one. Well while I was on a vacation in California to see my dad’s side of the family my aunt let me read a Patricia Cornwell’s book. It started my appetite for thrillers and mysteries. When I got back home and went back to school I saw this in my local library along with another one of his books. I picked the two up and hid it from my mother.

The first book I had read by Saul didn’t scare me. I liked it. For those who want to know it was The Devil’s Labyrinth. I really liked it. Then I got to this book. For some reason this book scared me. Maybe because I tend to have always had the paranoia that someone can break into the house. I still do but today I’m not as scared because I have learned to defend myself and take all necessary precautions.  Can’t live in fear.

Anywho, at that time I didn’t know what I do now. So I was scared out of my wits after reading this book. The only person who knew about it was my brother. He didn’t tell because then I wouldn’t help him sneak out at night. What? We were each other’s partner in crime. I made him check under my bed, even though the only person or animal that could fit underneath it was my cat, and my closet. I was a wimp when I was younger.

Since I am older now and not so scared of everything that goes bump in the night. I was at the library browsing when I saw this. I decided to see if it was still as scary as it was when I was still a teen.

Turns out no it isn’t as scary as I remember. I feel my brain may have exaggerated many parts being scary. Granted this could be something that happens today. It’s not a ghost story, or a cult story. This is about a man who goes into open houses, hides and waits for the perfect time to steal the girl. Literally a parent’s worst nightmare.

I had forgotten the ending so I couldn’t remember what happened which was fine by me. I actually don’t remember a lot of what had happened in the book so it was like reading it for the first time but knowing certain parts.

I ended up liking the story this go around. Will I reread it again? No. But it is no longer a one star in this former scaredy cat’s book.